


猫をかぶる (To Wear a Cat on One's Head)

by TheLastNero



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animagus Tom Riddle, Cats, Family Dinners, First Kiss, Fluff, Hogwarts Era, Humor, James and Lily are alive, M/M, Sleepovers, Snowed In, Tom Riddle is Harry's classmate, Tomarry Discord Secret Santa 2017, Voldemort never existed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-20 16:45:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13150785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLastNero/pseuds/TheLastNero
Summary: To hide one's claws and appear as if one is a nice, harmless person.





	猫をかぶる (To Wear a Cat on One's Head)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WyrmLivvy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyrmLivvy/gifts).



> Written for the Tomarry Discord Server's Secret Santa~ I hope you enjoy this, Sav :D  
> I was planning on making this around 5k words, but I figured it would be better to split it up and give a lot more opportunity for fluff and character development. So it's gonna be a 2-parter <3 Hope you're okay with that. Curse my inability to keep anything short, lol.

Godric’s Hollow was particularly windy that late winter night-- if Harry hadn’t been a wizard, the cold might have been unbearable, but with a quick heating charm, his hands were toastily tucked into his coat pockets and all was well. The snow, however, was another matter. One step forward and he’d sink straight down, his boots not nearly tall enough to account for the depth of the snowfall from earlier that day. With each crunch as he stepped forward, snow spilled over into his boots, drenching his socks and jeans, all the while snowflakes pelted down on his back. 

He was beginning to regret telling his mother he’d go out searching for the cat as the wind started to howl and whistle around him. His dad  _ had _ offered, but  _ no _ , Harry always had to play the hero. As he stumbled forward, it was becoming harder and harder to see more than a meter in front of him due to the intensity of the snow and wind combined.

“Nicola--” he grumbled as he called out. Whoever’s idea it was to get an off-white kneazle that could easily get lost in a village known for its heavy snow obviously wasn’t thinking long-term.  _ Thanks _ , Mom. 

No trademark ‘mew’ sounded. Or perhaps, the wind simply drowned it out. Harry took out his hands from his pockets and rubbed them together nervously. He reached up to tighten his Gryffindor scarf around his neck and kept calling for the poor cat.

He’d traversed past the outskirts of the town where the Potter’s cottage was and toward the edges of a thick pine forest. He really did not want to have to go in, but had begun to brace himself--

Until he heard the odd, strangled of hissing above the sound of the wind-- two distinctly different kinds of hissing, Harry realised. He looked around wildly, the snow blurring the lens of his glasses until he found a strange discoloration in the snow. Black lines lied in the distance, stark against the white of the snow and the midnight blue of the horizon. 

He didn’t know what it was, but it couldn’t  _ hurt _ to check, right? At least, that’s what he told himself as his feet crunched forward through the snow and toward the strange object.

“Nic--” He began to call out again, but was left gaping at the sight before him.

A strangled meow left the cat in front of him as said cat batted its claws at a small snake coiled in the snow like it was the feather toy she had at home. Both cat and snake turned toward him almost synchronized, eerily humanlike.

Nicola meowed loudly and pounced through the snow toward Harry, disappearing into the snow, only to appear when her head peaked above the indent she had made. 

Harry stepped forward warily toward her, his eyes not leaving the snake still coiled in the distance. He couldn’t help but think how odd it was that a snake would be out in winter. Didn’t they hibernate, or something? He scooped Nicola into his arms, pressing her into his chest to share their warmth with each other.

He let out a long sigh as he breathed into her fur and she rubbed against him affectionately. Her purrs reverberated against his chest. No doubt his coat would be covered in kneazle hair after this was all over. 

“I can’t believe you thought it would be a good idea to go out hunting in near blizzard weather. But you don’t think, do you?” Harry shook his head at Nicola.

She let out a long, disgruntled meow, thrashing her tail. Her body squirmed and she hissed vehemently. Harry was confused, until he felt a pressure around his ankle. Looking past Nicola, toward the snow and past the odd, cat-shaped holes in the snow, s-shaped curves dusted the top layer.

The pressure tightened around his ankle, just above his boot, as he looked down in dread. 

The black snake had curled itself around Harry, looking smug as a snake possibly could.

Harry nearly dropped Nicola as he let out a shriek, desperately trying to shake the snake off, but it wouldn’t uncoil itself. Instead, it simply slid down into Harry’s boot like some twisted form of ankle bracelet. Whereas it may have expected warmth, a hiss resounded as the snake twisted in the mushed snow in the sides of his boot. 

The question was,  _ would it bite _ ?

With his arms currently occupied by an agitated kneazle, Harry couldn’t just reach down and take the snake out. Hell, that might not have been a very smart thing to do even if his arms were free-- he might get bitten either way.

Harry stood, nearly petrified, for several moments until it became obvious that the snake had nestled within his boot and was comfortable. Harry supposed human body heat, even accompanied by melted snow, beat pure snow any day in terms of warmth for a cold-blooded animal. Perhaps… it  _ wouldn’t _ bite him.

But could he begin walking without any adverse effects? It might startle the creature into striking him.

The wind began to pick up, whistling louder than it had before. Harry shivered. 

Well, he sure as hell wasn’t going to just stand there to freeze to death. Hypothermia didn’t sound like a very quick way to go, anyways. Even if the snake was venomous, it might be quicker than  _ that _ .

He brought his leg forward slowly. The snake constricted around his ankle tighter, but the brush of fangs did not grace jeans nor skin. Harry let out a long sigh of relief and began walking at a more reasonable pace toward the direction in which he came. 

A meow rumbled from his arms once more. He looked down into the human-like eyes of his kneazle. Her tail raised and bent to point to his right, the tip shifted ever so slightly. Harry chuckled and began walking in that direction toward home.

 

* * *

 

With his mother's homing device in the form of a fluffy demon called a cat, Harry quickly found his way back home, far faster than he had reached the cat herself. In good time too, he thought, as he tried wiggling his frostbitten toes in his snow soaked socks. The snow was piling down heavier and heavier as the night went out. When he reached the cottage,  he let Nicola down at the entrance and opened the door, stepping into the house's warmth.

"Harry!"

He let out a long breath, the heat of it flushing his cheeks.

His mother pounced on him with a hug, only to instantly recoil.

"Oh honey, you're freezing! I knew I should have sent your father out instead--"

It was then that James appeared beside Lily, a hand placed on her shoulder. "Harry was fine. He came back alive, didn't he?" James chuckled. Lily gave him an unamused eyebrow raise. "The Boy Who Lived! He can survive anything! Although," his father paused, appraising Harry's positively snow doused appearance. "Can't say you look all too good, son. Your mother should run you a bath."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Your father can run you a bath, since it wasn't his baby left out in the cold--"

"Lily!"

She swooped to pick up Nicola who began to nestle into her arms. "I meant Nicola, of course." Lily's emerald eyes sparkled as she gave James a side glance and grinned.

James sputtered before laughing and retreating down the hall.

Harry couldn't help but smile as he took off his coat which proved now to be a bit much now that he was indoors. He was starting to get a bit sweaty, in fact.

Lily stood in the foyer of the cottage near him, looking out the window as he removed his layers.

"It really is a blizzard out tonight, isn't it?" She shook her head.

"I'd say."

"At least we'll have a white Yule," Lily said with a smile.

Harry had sat down to take off his boots, when a thought struck him. The snake. He had forgotten about its presence, it having been so unobtrusive as he had been walking. However, as he took off his socks, it was nowhere to be seen. He frowned.

It had probably slithered or fell out. It had looked sick, after all. Although, if it had ended up in the snow... Harry bit his lip. It probably wouldn't survive the cold, let alone the ever-worsening snowstorm.

As much as he didn't care for... snakes,  that didn't mean it deserved to die. As much as his father would say otherwise at the slightest connotation of anything Slytherin-related. Harry snorted. Never got over his jealousy of his mother's childhood friend, he supposed. Severus wouldn't be coming over for Yule that year, but they were expecting him for New Years. It was always amusing trying to see both his father and his second Godfather attempt to play nice with one another.

Harry flexed his stiff toes as soon as he removed his socks from his feet. He could really use that--

"Bath is ready!" James returned, announcing as if he'd accomplished some extraordinarily difficult task.

"That was quick," said Lily.

His eyebrow quipped. "Magic."

Harry gave them an amused look, feet padding out of the foyer and into the hall quickly to avoid the banter that was soon to follow.

 

* * *

 

The bathroom was even warmer than the entryway to the house, untainted by the cold let in from windows and the snow dragged in from his boots. The mirror was already steamed as he began stripping away his remaining clothes until his skin was bare and finally sunk into the hot water of the bath.

It instantly soothed his aching muscles and warmed his skin, slowly bringing his core body temperature up to a normal level. It began to dawn on him just  _ how _ cold it had been out there.

His mind instantly went back to the snake and its presumed fate, but he tossed that thought to the side. There was nothing he could do. Although, that didn't mean he was going to tell his mother-- if she had known he'd let a poor animal, by accident or not, remain out in the cold, he might have gotten a stern talking to.

He leaned back, stretching his legs, and resting his head on the back of the tub, allowing himself to completely and utterly relax in the hot water. The silence echoed across the tile and the walls, providing no distractions.

It was quiet, but in the calm of the bath, Harry could have heard a pin drop, let alone a soft, animalistic  _ hiss _ .

He instantly jolted up, the water sloshing with his movement as he turned and searched the bathroom for the source of the sound.

There, lying on top of his discarded jeans, was something that did not belong, nor was it what he expected to see again that night.

The black snake with the dulled scales was peaking out of his jean pocket, wrapped around his wand. Its tongue flicked and let out another hiss as it turned and noticed Harry.

Harry blinked dumbly at the creature.

Just  _ how _ had it ended up in his pocket? He couldn't comprehend what he was seeing.

The snake hissed once more, slithering further up the wand. Suddenly, a spark lit the wand's tip and there was a brief flash of light in the bathroom.

A mess of skin and clothes and black hair suddenly emerged from the vague shape of the snake until it took the shape of a human Harry knew all too well.

He was so dumbfounded, he didn't attempt to cover himself as he stared in shock at the classmate in front of him.

He blubbered for words in near disbelief. "T-tom--"

Said boy dusted off his robes with a disinterested look in his eyes. His prefect's badge shined under the bright lights of the room. "Tom  _ Marvolo _ Riddle. Yes." He sighed, looking around the room.

It was then that Harry became aware of their actual situation and grabbed the shower curtain to cover himself somewhat.

Tom raised an eyebrow.

Of all people, Harry thought in incredulity, his rival from the very first day of Hogwarts would appear in his bathroom, apparently disguised as a snake.

Wait--

"You aren't old enough to be an animagus  _ legally _ \-- And what the hell are you doing here?"

Tom's face soured. "I believe you know the answer to that question." He looked down distastefully at the curtain, then back up at Harry in amusement. "Now, can you tell me which way is the exit once I exit that door? Or, perhaps, there is a back door I may use?"

Harry frowned. How was he acting so... natural about such a ridiculous situation?

"You randomly appear in my bathroom after having latched on to me while you were a snake and offer no explanation and you expect me to not ask questions?"

"Well, I'd imagine you've had an  _ awfully _ stressful night, Harry," Tom began, rather patronizingly in Harry's opinion, "I wouldn't  _ dream _ of expecting you to bear the burden of my own slight troubles. On Yule holiday, to say the very least."

Harry blinked before raising an eyebrow. If he was anyone else at Hogwarts, except perhaps Professor Dumbledore, he might have bought into Tom's charms and simply accepted that explanation. But he and Riddle didn't have a feud for nothing-- He didn't know why Riddle still tried to fool him.

"You and I both know it's more likely that you're up to something. Cut the act, Riddle."

Tom's pleasant demeanor dropped and he glared at Harry. "Can't even play the game for a second, can you Potter?"

Harry let out an indignant noise. "Not that I can't, I don't want to. You're the one in my family's house. I think  _ you _ owe  _ me _ an explanation."

Riddle sighed and leaned against the vanity, crossing his arms. It was then that Harry noticed what the Slytherin was fiddling with in his hands--

Harry's wand. He had Harry's wand.

Harry "Currently Naked in the Bath That was Quickly Becoming Lukewarm" Potter's bloody wand. He gulped.

At least if Riddle lashed out at him, his parents would be able to clean up his body easily. Harry didn't care what anyone else at Hogwarts said-- he  _ knew _ that something was up with Riddle. Something sinister. He was capable of things others wouldn't dream of, he was certain. Not that he would be believed if he told anyone of his suspicions.

But it was things like the glint in Riddle's eye like just then that made Harry absolutely certain there was more to Riddle that met the eye.

Riddle kept playing with his wand, refusing to look at Harry except from his peripheral vision in a sneering manner that drove him crazy. "I--" He faltered momentarily. I was at a party. It was getting a bit dull, so I decided to liven it up a bit. However, due to my own inexperience with the animus transfiguration process during extreme temperatures such as tonight's, I was neglect to be able to predict how it would affect my turning back into human form. It is as simple as that. Now, the door out--?"

"Nice story, but that doesn't explain why you were in my backyard in the snow. Unless you  _ really _ wanted to play with Nicola?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

Tom's face twitched. "I gave you my explanation. It would be... might I say,  _ cruel  _ to hold escape over me in favor of information, dear Harry." He turned his head and locked eyes with Harry. "It wouldn't be a very chivalrous thing to do."   
  


He knew what Tom was playing at. He knew but he hated it-- hated how he would always play into that trap--

"Let me get dressed and I'll show you." Harry grit his teeth.

"I won't peek," Tom replied with an impish smirk.

 

* * *

 

Harry stepped out of the bathroom first to check that neither of his parents were nearby. Why on earth the hall to the foyer had to be so long and branch to so many different rooms, he didn't know. Worse yet, since the house was older, forget open concept-- he'd have to keep an eye out and make sure that no one turned any corners just to find Tom Riddle in the Potters' house.

He was probably overthinking it but he did not want to get caught with  _ Riddle _ of all people over.

After Harry gave the signal, Tom followed him out into the hallway nonchalantly. If Tom had been dumber, Harry might have worried he might try to make conversation, but that would be both an insult to the boy's intelligence and ability to hold a grudge.

They continued slowly, quiet, yet steady down the hallway. Harry's head was turned every which way on the lookout at each room they passed, poised to hide behind a door swinging open or to halt Tom if someone was sitting beyond an archway--

He felt oddly like James Bond or a bank robber in that situation. His mother always loved James Bond, to his father's amusement at their shared first name.

A thud and a loud, drawn-out  _ mre--ow _ wrenched him out of his thoughts.

"Bloody cat--" 

Harry flinched and turned around to see Tom sprawled across the floor, Nicola sitting poised beside his feet, licking her paws.

“Harry? Are you alright?”

Oh  _ no _ .

Tom started scrambling to his feet but--

“Oh. Who is this?”

Harry’s head flipped wildly toward the voice, finding his father standing in the archway to the kitchen holding a cup of what he presumed to be tea. A concern expression painted his face, as he looked between Harry and Tom.

Harry gaped, trying to come up with something, but as the words began to form on his tongue, he was interrupted.

“A friend of Harry’s--” Tom had risen to his feet gracefully, as if he had never fallen at all, and was dusting himself off as he spoke-- “Tom Marvolo Riddle.” He gave James a charming, close-mouthed smile and walked over to shake his hand.

James took Tom’s hand in his and shook it, quite obviously surprised. He threw a side-glance toward Harry that promised an a conversation on the matter later on.

“Well, it’s good to meet you, Tom. Harry hadn’t told us he was having a friend over.”

Okay, plan B.

Harry let out an awkward laugh and scratched the back of his neck, walking over to grab Tom by the shoulder, as if to start walking him to the door himself. Tom raised an eyebrow curiously, that (what Harry thought of as) smarmy smile never leaving his face. "Yeah, he was just about to leave--"

His father looked as though he wanted to say something but hesitated. Harry could just  _ tell  _ he knew  _ something _ was up. Never could he ever get anything by his father.

"James? Harry? Dinner's ready--"

Lily stepped into the hall to join the rest of them and stopped in the archway once she saw Tom.

Well, it seemed  _ everything was just going swell, wasn't it-- _

"Who is this?" Lily cocked her head, smiling sweetly.

"A friend of Harry's--"

"He was just leaving--"

Lily clapped her hands. "At this hour? Has the boy had dinner yet?"

Please no--

The attention turned back to Tom.

Please say yes--

"I'm afraid I have not," he replies, innocently enough.

Except Harry  _ knew _ Tom,  _ knew  _ innocent was the exact opposite of any of his intentions.

He also knew, with dread, his mother and her nurturing nature.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, then, Tom?"

Tom smiled. "I would be delighted, Mrs. Potter."

 

* * *

 

If someone had told him earlier that week that he would have Tom 'The Heir of Slytherin' Riddle, the bane of his existence, at his family dinner chatting amiably with his mother and father, Harry would have asked them if Tom had brought also somehow sprouted wings and if the sky had turned violet as well.

Tom was just the  _ right amount  _ of schmooze. There was no "the meatloaf is absolutely fabulous, Mrs. Potter," or "What do you think of the Irish quidditch team these days, Mr. Potter," no. Riddle was subtle-- he was, dare Harry say it,  _ likable.  _ Falsely so, albeit, but the sheer charm coming out of his mouth and the naturalness of it all unnerved him deeply. Riddle was always, always, up to something. He didn't do anything without some motive.

Harry wasn't going to go as far as to say he deliberately _ planned  _ to end up at the Potters' that night, but he was sure as hell using it to further  _ some _ agenda of his.

"So how's school treating you, Tom?" asked Lily. She, strangely enough, seemed the most...  _ comfortable with him. _

Harry sat awkwardly in his chair, sat next to Riddle, focusing on his food while all the while analyzing their entire conversation.

"Quite well, actually. I always take my studies very seriously, and that attitude has been rewarding thus far--" Tom turned toward Harry-- "An attitude Harry seems to lack sometimes, sadly. It's a pity too."

Ugh. Smarmy.

Lily laughed while James flushed red in the face, but remained silent.

"You know, it might be a good thing, you two being friends. Harry could use that extra kick in his academics--" said Lily.

"Well, he has Hermione, doesn't he?"

Lily gave James a look, her smile never leaving her face but her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Did you ever start taking your studies seriously after we started dating?"

James rubbed his neck sheepishly. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm just saying, it's different having a friend of the same gender who can encourage him--"

Lily trailed off and James responded, while Harry simply zoned out.

It was bad enough Tom was here, bad enough he had caught Harry  _ completely naked in the bath, _ but his parents had had to invite him to dinner and they had to have actually liked him and thought he might be a  _ good  _ influence--

This was an odd Yule holiday, to say the very least.

Harry felt a light tap on the side of his foot. He turned his head toward Riddle, who gave him an ever slight, but, to Harry, who was ever aware of any slight expression the Slytherin might have made, painfully clear smirk at the situation.

He glared back at him.

He'd have to find something to hold against Riddle to prevent him from holding this situation over his head. Perhaps the fact that he was an illegal animagus. He frowned. No-- somehow that didn't seem like an equal form of blackmail. If blackmail  _ could _ be equal and fair, that is.

Dinner came to an end and Lily began to clean the dishes by hand (she swore it was more effective than doing it magically), and Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he walked with Riddle out into the foyer to  _ finally  _ get him out of there.

The windows were blurred white and the whistling of the wind could be heard from inside as it rattled the night.

"It was nice meeting you, Tom," James said, giving Harry deja vu.  _ This time,  _ however, Riddle  _ was  _ leaving.

He turned back to Harry's father and waved, hand touching the door. "Have a good night, Mr. Potter. Harry." He turned toward Harry and quirked an eyebrow as if to dare him to lash out and drop the act.

Harry bit the inside of his mouth and he looked down at his feet, willing himself not to say anything offensive. His father nudged his shoulder curiously at his silence, and he looked up.

Riddle was still waiting by the door, looking at Harry as if expecting  _ something _ .

Oh. Right.

"See you in school, Tom." That worked, didn't it? It sounded better than "Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out."

Riddle smiled. Harry would have called it a smirk, but obviously Riddle had held back some of the malice that would have laced his lips had they been back at Hogwarts. James looked between the two curiously, before slightly shrugging to himself.

Finally, Riddle opened the door to leave, letting in a blast of cold air to chill the foyer.

It was extremely cold. 

James looked slightly concerned as a small amount of snow spilled onto the doormat.

"Tom... How exactly are you getting home? Is it far? I wouldn't want to send you off into the cold."

_ Not again.  _ Harry blinked rapidly to disguise his growing frustration.

Tom seemed caught off guard by the question, eyebrows twitching and eyes widening, before his face reverted back to his normal mask, now bearing a perfectly crafted replica of embarrassment. Harry knew he couldn't  _ actually  _ be embarrassed. He was probably just trying to appear humble when he wasn't.

"I took a train here and walked. I live in London, actually."

James looked confused and Harry found himself feeling similarly. Was Tom a wizard or not?

"We have a floo, if you need to use one," James added in concern. "I would hate to have to send you off into a blizzard and hear Harry tell us you died of frostbite after he'd returned to school." He laughed awkwardly, eventually stopping at the silence of the two younger boys.

Tom broke the silence abruptly. "I live with muggles."

That was... not what Harry had been expecting to hear, at all. He furrowed his brow in confusion. That... did not make much sense, at all, given Riddle's status within Slytherin's pureblood cliques that seemed to hate on everything with the slightest  _ twinge  _ of non-wizarding influence. Did that mean Riddle was muggleborn? Did his classmates not know, then?

"Ah, I apologize for assuming. Harry's mother is muggleborn, it's perfectly alright. I know some families are against that and you probably get a hard enough time at school. Although..." James trailed off.

Harry knew what was coming next without having to hear his father say it.

"Why don't you stay the night? We can send you off in the morning when the wind chill  _ won't  _ freeze you in your place."

"Dad--"

"I wouldn't want to intrude after you've already been so gracious toward my unexpected visit," said Tom.

_ Thank Merlin,  _ Riddle knew when to stop--

"Nonsense! We have a spare room, although I'd imagine you and Harry would want to stay in his room. We can conjure an air mattress up quick, no issue. I'd feel awful having you walk home." James frowned.

It was moments like these that Harry's love for his parents and their kindness became replaced by dread when they just  _ didn't know when to stop. _

“Well, if you  _ insist-- _ ”


End file.
